Unite Rochester Poll on Racial Opinions

Unite Rochester Poll on Racial Opinions

The Democrat and Chronicle worked in conjunction with ACT Rochester and the Rochester Area Community Foundation in 2012 and 2015 to commission a poll of Monroe County residents on racial opinions.

College Research Institute conducted both surveys. Some highlights from the 2015 survey:

There is a divide on whether residents believe in systemic racism - the existence of policies and cultural views that adversely affect people of color.

Sixty-five percent of respondents agreed that racial discrimination is either a very significant or somewhat significant problem in Monroe County. That’s up significantly from 47 percent in 2012. The number of white people who agreed that discrimination is a significant problem leaped from 44 percent three years ago to 64 percent.

Only one in five respondents said relations between African-American and white people in Monroe County have improved in the past couple of years, down from one in three in 2012. Much of the decline was among white respondents. Results were similar for a question about white and Hispanic people.

Answering a new question, 54 percent of respondents agreed that the stress of living in poverty causes trauma that affects the poor and the decisions they make.

More people agree the gap in the standard of living between black and white people in Monroe County is getting wider.

The number of people who think relations between black and white people have worsened has nearly doubled since 2012.